Brilliant and big-hearted, Bruce Springsteen is as close as a rock musician gets to being a hero. But heroes have heroes of their own, and Bruce has never been shy about giving a shout-out. That generous impulse extends to his newest album, High Hopes, which features covers of tracks by Springsteen faves the Havalinas and Suicide. Bruce even heralded the album with a pre-release statement praising some of his key influences.

So in the High Hopes spirit of inclusiveness and generosity, we've compiled a list of Springsteen's 25 biggest heroes: the musicians, friends, filmmakers, authors and activists who mean the most to this man who means so much to us.